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my day in Waco.

Whew, sorry for the hiatus! I've been slacking off.

So let's jump back in to our trip down to Waco. Tuesday, Todd and I spent most of the day doing separate things, so this was a really full day when you put it all together! I'll give you a run-down of Todd's day with the kids next week, and for today I'll just cover how I spent my day in Waco. We got up early, and Todd drove me into town and dropped me off at my sister's hotel, and from there Lauren and I walked to the ballroom where the press event was being hosted.

We started the morning chatting over catered breakfast and great coffee, followed by a couple of presentations by Chip and Joanna on Joanna's line of home paint (I'm talking gorgeous colors, you guys. It was literally the first time I've ever found myself thinking, "Purple could be a pretty wall color..." because even her purples were gorgeous), Chip's recommendations for primer (Kilz, baby; are you shocked? That stuff is killer), and Joanna's new line of chalk paint.

So, I had never used chalk paint before. I mean, I've seen it all over the internet, but it looked weirdly complicated in its simplicity (what do you mean I just kind of...slap it around and it's okay if it's streaky and it takes like ten minutes to dry? And what is this wax stuff you coat it with?), and a lot of the projects done with chalk paint can get a little too 'weathered' for my personal taste. Plus I'm kind of craft-averse at my core, so I'd always just kind of steered clear.

But then they announced craft time. With chalk paint. And I was like, umwhatdoido. But I followed the other (craftier, bloggier, designier) women there up to the table to pick out my supplies and suddenly I was like, CHALK-PAINTED PICTURE FRAME YOU WILL COMPLETE ME. I had been on the hunt for a frame for a print we'd gotten for Lolo a long time ago, and there was one that was the perfect size, and there was chalk paint in the perfect color (duh, it's a Joanna color - Cabbage Rose, for anyone wondering), so I tried my hand at chalk painting. And you know what? You really do just kind of slap that stuff around and it somehow ends up looking crazy good.

And you know what else? Chip and Joanna just sat around chalk painting with us like bosses. A couple of really low-key, crafting-on-a-Tuesday-morning bosses.

After Crafty Fun Time Yeah, we broke into small groups for some interview time with the Gaineses. So, if you're ever wondering how to become more brave in your design choices while still sticking to a budget, I can tell you exactly what I think someone like Joanna Gaines would say. Because I asked her and she answered me and I heard it verbatim from her mouth. Which I like to consider 'having it on good authority.'

Then, we ate an amazing catered lunch. (Real, live Texas brisket, and fried chicken, and biscuits and gravy... of which I was able to only eat the brisket, but somehow even being in the presence of a full-blooded Texas biscuit was enough for me to feel satisfied.)

Then we all headed over to the Silos for a tour of the grounds and the offices. Then we got to shop. And not only was there tons of beautiful stuff there, but they had given us all gift cards to the store that were so insanely generous, I kind of... ran out of stuff to buy before I actually ran out of money. It was a foreign feeling, but not a bad one, I won't lie.

Then Lauren and I got to spend some amazing one-on-one time together in her hotel room while we waited for Todd to come into town with the kids (once the kids got up from nap.) Which is honestly the whole reason I went in the first place - it just does my heart so good to spend time with her. Then we all spent time hanging out on the main lawn by the Silos, which the kids loved, and since it was pretty late in the day, we kind of had the place to ourselves. Once the grounds closed, we grabbed some food in town and headed back to our Airbnb home.

And that was my fun, is-this-really-my-life-somehow-on-this-rando-Tuesday day.

Hi! I'm Paige Van Voorst, homeschooling mom of six kiddos under the age of nine. We're quickly outgrowing our minivan - it's basically a clown car at this point!
Hang around as I navigate my way through the joys, frustrations, belly laughs, and ridiculous moments with all of these clowns.